KR102340466B1 - Pneumatic conveying apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Pneumatic conveying units move from a process section where it is impossible or unfavorable to store large volumes of material in the immediate vicinity of the feed point of the section to a process section that requires a rate of change of feed rate that far exceeds what is possible with conventional pneumatic conveying systems and pipelines alone. operable to transport material from a source. The pneumatic conveying apparatus 100 ; 101 ; 102 comprises at least one conduit 11 and a compression device 8 operable to supply and convey a pneumatic medium via the at least one conduit 11 . The source 1 may be a feed hopper and is operable to discharge material to a pneumatic conveying system downstream of the source. In the pneumatic conveying system, at least one vessel ( 9 ; 9A, 9B; 20 ) is arranged to receive material from a source ( 1 ) and discharge material into at least one conduit ( 11 ). The system further comprises a filter receiver (4) configured to simultaneously receive and exhaust the material and the pneumatic medium from the at least one conduit. Filter receivers have a very small working volume or capacity for the feed rate, typically with a storage space of 1 to 2 minutes when operating at full discharge rate, which storage space is usually at the beginning of a pneumatic conveying pipeline. It generally has 1/2 to 1/8 volume of the volume of the container that supplies the material. The filter receiver is equipped with an exhaust device operable to increase the discharge rate to the process section from a minimum feed rate to a maximum feed rate in a time period of from 2 seconds to 30 seconds. The filter receiver (4) is configured to separate the material and the pneumatic medium such that the material can be discharged from the filter receiver to the downstream process section (2) to separate the conveying device from the processing section and provide the additional advantages described herein, and It is possible to operate. The apparatus maintains a target weight and/or level within the filter vessel, measures the weight and/or level and rate of change in weight or level of any storage vessel that discharges material to the pneumatic conveying pipeline and processing section, and provides a closed loop control method and a control system 19 operable to restore a target weight and/or level in the filter receiver by incorporating aspects of

Description

Pneumatic conveying device {PNEUMATIC CONVEYING APPARATUS}

The present invention relates to an apparatus operable to pneumatically convey bulk material. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus operable to pneumatically convey bulk material at a feed rate that can be varied on demand.

Conveyor systems are used as material handling equipment in many different industries. Examples of conveying devices are belt conveyors, chain conveyors, vibrating conveyors and link conveyors. Pneumatic conveying is the process of conveying bulk material through a pipeline in a gas stream, such as air or nitrogen.

When a pneumatic conveying system delivers material, such as fuel or raw material, to a process unit that requires that the pneumatic conveying feed rate be frequently adjusted, the possible response time from the pneumatic conveying system is the speed at which the material can progress through the pipeline. limited by When the conveying distance generally exceeds, for example, 200 m and the average conveying speed is 10 m/s, it takes on average 20 seconds for the conveying speed to start increasing in the processing section located at the end of the 200 m conveying pipeline. Due to physical limitations on the way in which the feeding device can be operated, the feed rate increases from the lowest feed rate to the highest feed rate at the beginning of the pipeline, eg, if it takes an additional 30 seconds, generally For the government to see the maximum feed rate, it may actually take 50 seconds, for example.

Other factors, such as the rate at which the pressure in the conveying system can build up over these distances, the risk of pipeline clogging, or the effect that higher speeds have on additional wear or material damage, feed directly into the process part connected to the end of the conveying pipeline. This can further limit the response time possible from pneumatic conveying systems.

To address this problem, often large volumes of material (usually 30 minutes to several hours' worth of work at full capacity) are stored directly adjacent to the feed point of the process. However, this is often compromised by requiring the size and cost of storage space at the point of supply, or because there is no space in particularly complex process units or in process plants that already exist and cannot be easily changed or adapted to design and structure. It is not possible to put this storage space.

An improved pneumatic conveying system, ie; It would be desirable to provide a pneumatic conveying system that alleviates at least one or more of the above problems.

It would be desirable to provide an improved pneumatic conveying system capable of increasing or decreasing the feed rate more rapidly compared to conventional pneumatic conveying devices without directly storing relatively large amounts of material at the process feed point.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pneumatic conveying device capable of conveying material from a supply source to a process, said pneumatic conveying device comprising:

a compression device operable to supply and transport pneumatic media through the at least one conduit;

a source operable to discharge material into a pneumatic conveying system;

at least one vessel arranged to receive material from said source and exhaust material into said at least one conduit;

A filter receiver configured to receive a material and a pneumatic medium from at least one conduit, the filter receiver separating the material and the pneumatic medium to transfer a predefined small volume or weight of material from the filter receiver to an adjacent processing section. the filter receiver configured to be operably operable for simultaneous storage and discharge, wherein a process part connection formed where the apparatus is connected to the process part is within a horizontal or vertical range of 1 m to 15 m;

a discharging device operable to increase the feed rate from a minimum feed rate to a maximum feed rate over a time frame of 3 to 30 seconds to discharge material into the processing unit in a manner that meets the requirements of the processing unit;

a control system operable to control the discharge rates of material and pneumatic medium such that material is transported substantially continuously along the conduit to the filter receiver; and

By varying the feed rate to the pneumatic conveying pipeline according to a closed-loop control method, a fixed weight or volume, i.e., the amount of material stored in the filter receiver, can be measured and subsequently maintained and/or recovered. The pneumatic conveying device comprising a control system is provided.

In the pneumatic conveying system according to the first aspect of the present invention, the filter receiver has a storage capacity that is small compared to the feed rate, and generally has a storage capacity of less than 1 minute to less than 2 minutes at a maximum feed rate. The filter receiver provides the final stage of the conveying system before the material is discharged to a generally located processing section. As such, the filter receiver can increase the feed rate from the system to the process section at a rate of change that far exceeds the rate of change possible only with a pneumatic conveying system without the need to store large volumes of material at the end of the pneumatic conveying pipeline. It provides a means to rapidly increase or decrease. Thus, the pneumatic conveying system according to the first aspect of the invention provides at least sometimes a rapid rate of change of material feed, for example from a minimum feed rate to a maximum feed rate or at least sometimes without storing a large amount of material in the immediate vicinity of the processing section. Pneumatic conveying systems can be used with process sections that require a rapid rate of change to zero within 30 seconds from the feed rate.

The filter receiver creates a material buffer operable to collect material, separate a pneumatic transport medium (eg, air) from the material, and supply the material to a final processing unit. The filter receiver is arranged to receive material from a continuous pneumatic conveying system to maintain and/or recover a constant weight or level after a rapid change in feed rate fed directly to the processing unit. When the demand of the process part increases rapidly at a rate that the pneumatic conveying system can match, the volume of material stored in the receiver decreases, and the control system gradually increases the conveying speed to the pneumatic conveying pipeline over time, so that the pipeline The feed rate to the furnace may eventually exceed the actual demand of the process unit. In this way, the weight and/or volume of material stored in the filter receiver may increase and recover to a desired steady-state target point within a predefined period of time. Further, the control system controls the rate of increase in the feed rate to the pneumatic conveying pipeline so that the filter receiver volume or weight does not fall below a predefined minimum level, so that the discharge device from the filter receiver is predictably over a maximum range of motion. It can operate and avoid the sudden shortage of material in the process section. To ensure these conditions, it has been found that the storage volume of the filter vessel should be about 1/2 to 1/8 of the volume of the vessel fed into the pneumatic conveying pipeline. Providing such a filter receiver reduces or eliminates pulsation of the material fed to the processing section, which would normally result from pneumatic conveying, which has the added advantage that the material is fed to the processing section more smoothly and predictably. provided

Many processes can benefit from transporting the material with minimal or no pulsation so that transport to the process can be facilitated, for example to improve chemical or other reactions in the process. , or downstream treatment or cleaning of the vented gas. Furthermore, the use of a filter receiver inhibits the rate at which the material is fed from the pneumatic conveying system, allowing the material to enter the processing section at a slower rate. The benefit of a slower material entry rate is that, for example, it can minimize wear due to impact or erosion, or minimize dust due to speed-related wear, or increase the residence time of the material transferred within the process. . This improves the effectiveness and/or efficiency of the entire process in many cases.

The pneumatic conveying system according to the invention provides, for example, that the pneumatic conveying system provides for fully enclosed material handling, if necessary fully enclosed explosion containment, convenient equipment provided by a containment vessel, in particular of a small volume compared to the overall conveying speed. Since it entails few positioning, moving parts, it is possible to prevent or reduce the generation of dust. Thus, this system represents a low maintenance system compared to other solutions.

The control system may consist of electrical microprocessor logic control (or similar, eg pneumatic logic). The logic control and/or metering system and/or volume measuring system is operable to measure/monitor a feed rate at which material is conveyed to the filter receiver to determine a rate of change in weight or level within the filter receiver, and if necessary, the closed loop control method operable to adjust the rate of transport to the filter receiver such that a target weight or level of material in the receiver is achieved by increasing, decreasing or maintaining the rate at which the material is fed into the pneumatic transport pipeline using the The control system may comprise a plurality of mechanical feeding devices operated by electric rotation or pneumatic rotation, a motor variable speed drive and/or a position sensor. A mechanical feeding device may be provided between the source and the at least one container. A mechanical feeding device may be provided on the outlet from the at least one container.

One or more feeding devices may be provided on the outlet of the filter receiver. The feeding device may be operable to increase the feed rate of material from a minimum feed rate to a maximum feed rate in a range of 3 seconds to 30 seconds or less.

The filter receiver may comprise filtering means and/or cyclonic separation and/or ducting means for separating the conveying material from the conveying medium, for example air or nitrogen.

At least one vessel may comprise a pressurized vessel. Alternatively, the at least one container may comprise an unpressurized container.

The at least one container and filter receiver may include weight/mass or level sensing, wherein the container is operable to receive and/or discharge a predetermined weight and/or level of material in the material contained in the container. At least one vessel is operable to control the rate of change of the weight and/or level of the material.

The system may further include a plurality of vessels arranged in series with a source vessel, wherein the material may be discharged from the source vessel and received by the first vessel, wherein the material is then disposed in the first vessel. into a second vessel, wherein upon reaching a predetermined weight and/or level of material, the second vessel is operable to discharge material into the pipeline for transport through the pipeline by the pneumatic medium .

Alternatively, the system may further comprise a plurality of vessels arranged in parallel, wherein the first vessel and the second vessel are each in communication with a source vessel, the first vessel receiving material discharged from the source vessel. and discharging material into a pipeline, wherein the second vessel is arranged to receive material discharged from the source vessel and discharge material into the pipeline, wherein the first vessel and the second vessel alternately receiving and discharging, when the first vessel receives material from the source vessel, the second vessel discharges the material into the pipeline, and when the second vessel receives material from the source vessel, the second vessel 1 The vessel discharges the material into the pipeline. Although both the first and second vessels can simultaneously receive material from the source vessel, discharging material from the first and second vessels into the pipeline is individually and alternately to maintain continuous transfer. is made of

The system may include one or more vents, wherein each vent is controllable by a control system, whereby pressure may bleed from at least a portion of the system when the one or more vents are open; Pressure may be increased or maintained in at least a portion of the system when one or more vents are closed.

The device according to the invention provides a means for rapidly increasing or decreasing the feed rate from the end of the system at a rate of change that far exceeds the rate of change of the feed rate possible only with a pneumatic conveying system alone. Thus, the device according to the invention allows for rapid supply of materials in situations where the amount of storage space is limited near the connection of the process part, or in situations where it is advantageous for a number of reasons to have a very small storage capacity at the entry point of the process part. A pneumatic transmission system can be used with a process section that can often require a rate of change, typically from 3 seconds to 30 seconds or less from the minimum feed rate to the maximum feed rate. These reasons may include cost benefits, space limitations, maintenance and/or service requirements, or safety-related reasons such as explosion containment or venting or storage of potentially hazardous species.

In pneumatic conveying systems, more pneumatic conveying medium (eg gas or air), if not normal, is required to increase the conveying speed and also to maintain the conveying in optimum conditions over the functional range required by the process part. It is understood that there may be a need to provide a system that may be needed under state conditions. Thus, a sharp increase in feed rate may require a significant amount of additional airflow/energy during the speed change period to prevent the transfer pipeline from being clogged by material. This is particularly important when the transfer pipeline receives the material being transferred from the pressurized vessel described in the present invention. This is because a change in conveying pipeline pressure must also occur in the pressurized vessel, in which case the total increased volume slows the rate of increase in pressure in the entire system, which in turn causes the feed rate to decrease unless additional pressurized air is provided. It can reduce the speed that can be increased. Reduced power consumption and/or reduced power consumption in the compression device by using the described apparatus, since the peak gas flow capacity or the amount of additional peak energy required by the pneumatic conveying system from the compression device when the speed is increased is significantly reduced or eliminated by using the apparatus described. Or the advantage of providing a reduced motor size arises.

The present invention uses a relatively very small volume intermediate storage stage in the form of a filter receiver. By using this system, the excess capacity required by the process part to cope with increased gas flow and/or high rate of change of material feed rate in a short time frame is reduced, so that the process part itself can be created, purchased, installed and It can have a significant impact on operating costs. However, if the pneumatic conveying system is configured to feed material directly to the processing unit, i.e. without the receiving vessel, then the processing unit itself is used to convey the material since there is no longer a facility to separate the conveying medium from the pneumatic medium. Additional capabilities may be required to cope with existing pneumatic transport media. This can be a serious disadvantage in many process departments.

When the pneumatic conveying system directly feeds the material to the processing unit, the pressure in the receiving processing unit must be overcome by the pneumatic conveying system, thereby increasing the power required to pneumatically convey the material. By using the arrangement according to the invention, the pressure in the process section can be separated from the conveying system by means of one or more feeding devices described above with the advantage of reduced conveying power consumption.

When the pneumatic conveying system directly feeds the process part, consideration should be given when designing the process part that there is a possibility that the pneumatic transport system can pressurize the process part; This could potentially place the receiving process within the range of local pressure regulation and its associated results. By using the device according to the invention, the pressure of the pneumatic conveying system can be decoupled from the process part, potentially eliminating pressure design considerations or requirements from the process part itself.

A further aspect of the present invention provides a method of increasing or decreasing a feed rate from a pneumatic conveying device, the method comprising conveying material from a source to a processing unit and employing the pneumatic conveying device, the pneumatic conveying device comprising the steps of: The steps of using the transfer device are:

discharging the material from the source to a pneumatic conveying system;

receiving material from the source and discharging the material into the at least one conduit;

supplying and conveying the pneumatic medium through the at least one conduit using a compression device;

discharging the material and the pneumatic medium from the at least one conduit;

receiving the material and the pneumatic medium in a relatively very small volume filter receiver;

separating the material and the pneumatic medium so that the material can be discharged from the filter receiver to the processing section;

discharging material from the filter receiver to the processing section; and

and controlling the discharge rates of the material and the pneumatic medium to substantially continuously convey the material along the conduit to the filter receiver.

The pneumatic conveying device may be the one defined in the first aspect.

Maintaining and/or recovering to a target weight and/or volume in the filter receiver by adjusting the feed rate and rate of change of the feed rate to a pneumatic conveying pipeline that transports material to the filter receiver.

The method may further comprise controlling a feed rate of material exiting the process section from the filter receiver, wherein the controlling comprises increasing, decreasing, or maintaining a feed rate within a predetermined range. includes steps.

Embodiments of the present invention are now described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings.
1 is a schematic diagram of a pneumatic conveyor system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
2 is a schematic diagram of a pneumatic conveyor system according to an embodiment of the present invention; and
3 is a schematic diagram of a pneumatic conveyor system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

1 shows a pneumatic conveyor system 100 in which bulk material is transferred from a storage vessel or feed hopper 1 to a processing unit 2 . An example of application of such a system is, for example, the transfer of fuel or additives (bulk material) to mills, furnaces, reactor vessels and the like, all of which are Government (2) is an example.

In the example shown, material is transferred from the feed hopper 1 to the processing section 2 using a combination of a pressurized pneumatic conveying system 3 , a receiving vessel 4 and one or more mechanical conveying device(s) 6 . are transported

As mentioned above, the example shown represents a pneumatic conveying system. A pneumatic medium is thus required to transport the material through the device. The pneumatic medium in this example is a gas, typically compressed air. The gas is provided by a gas compression device 8 . The flow rate from the gas compression device 8 is controlled. Flow control may be controlled by standard means, such as varying the rotational speed of the compression element, using flow control valves and flow meters, using square edge orifice plates, or delaval nozzles. can be done using

In the example shown, the bulk material is fed from the pressurized vessel 9 to the pneumatic conveying pipeline 11 via a feeding device 10 , the feeding device of which flows the material from the pressurized vessel 9 to the pipeline 11 . operable to control and/or adjust and/or limit The pneumatic medium (gas) supplied by the compression device 8 is delivered to the pipeline 11 , and is operable to transport bulk material via the pipeline 11 to the receiving vessel 4 . In the receiving vessel 4 the gas (transfer medium) is separated from the bulk material using, for example, filtration and/or cyclone/centrifugal separation and/or duct separation, whereby only the bulk material is passed to the final processing section 2 . are transported

The pressurized vessel 9 operates between the high level or high weight 13 and the low level 12 or low weight 13 for continuously supplying bulk material to the pipeline 11 via the feeding device 10 . do.

In the example shown, an intermediate feeding device 14 is provided, wherein when the pressure vessel 9 reaches a low level or weight, the pressure vessel passes through the intermediate feeding device 14 (pressurized “lock” vessel). It makes it possible to receive material from the feed hopper (1). It is thus ensured that the material is continuously conveyed to the receiving vessel 4 via the feeding device 10 and the conveying pipeline 11 .

Intermediate feeding device or pressurized “lock” vessel 14 is such that when the pressure in the supply hopper 1 and the pressure in the pressurized vessel 9 is equal and receives a signal based on time or weight, the material moves into the supply hopper 1 It functions to refill the pressurized vessel 9 by circulating between the pressure in the supply hopper 1 and the pressure in the pressurized vessel 9, moving from the to the locking vessel 14 through the valve 15.

Then, when the pressure in the vessel 14 equals the pressure in the pressurized vessel 9 and receives a signal based on time or weight, the material is then transferred from the vessel 14 through a valve or supply device 16 to the pressurized vessel 9 . is transmitted to

Delivery of gas to the system is controlled by a valve 17 or a plurality of valves 17 to be introduced into the vessels 14 and 9 . The valve 17 also acts as a vent, and an additional vent 18 is provided in the locking vessel 14 to control gas flow, pressure and material flow through the system.

The pressurization valve 17 or arrangement of the plurality of pressurization valves 17 can be configured according to the method required to satisfactorily pressurize and evacuate the vessel. These methods often vary depending on the nature of the material being conveyed.

The sequence of charging, discharging, recharging, pressurizing and depressurizing (evacuating) the device is provided by the logic controller 19 .

The material being transported accumulates in the receiving vessel 4 until a target weight and level is achieved. When a predetermined level is reached, the material is transported to the processing unit 2 . In the example shown, the transfer of material from the receiving vessel 4 to the processing unit 2 takes place via one or more mechanical feeding devices 6 .

System 100 is a control system 19 operable to monitor, regulate, and maintain a feed rate of material through the system using, alone or in combination, process part control techniques such as closed loop control methods and proportional-integral-differential methods. includes The control system is operable to control the level or weight of material in the receiving vessel 4 by varying the feed rate from the pressurized vessel 9 and by adjusting the position or rotational speed of the feeding device 10 .

When the system, in particular the feeding device 6 , 10 is operating under steady state conditions, the level or weight in the receiving vessel 4 remains constant, referred to as the target weight, and is under the control of the control system 19 .

FIG. 2 shows a pneumatic conveying system 101 showing an alternative method of conveying material from the feed hopper 1 to the receiving vessel 4 .

In the example shown in Fig. 2, two pressurized vessels 9A and 9B are included. In the process section for transporting material from the supply hopper 1 to the receiving vessel 4 , the bulk material is transferred from the supply hopper 1 through a valve 15A to the pressurized vessel 9A and then passes through the supply device 10A. through to the pneumatic conveying pipeline 11 , the supply device being operable to control, restrict and/or regulate the flow of material from the pressurized vessel 9A to the pipeline 11 . As in the example shown in FIG. 1 , the pressurized vessel 9A operates between a high level or gravimetric state and a low level or gravimetric state and is capable of continuously supplying material to the pipeline 11 via a feeding device 10A. have.

In the example shown in FIG. 2 , two pressurized vessels 9A and 9B are filled sequentially or simultaneously, however, each vessel in a separate case separately feeds material via feeding devices 10A and 10B respectively, thereby This allows the vessels 9A and 9B to alternately feed material to the pipeline 11 .

When the first vessel 9A has reached a level or weight between the full and empty states, the second vessel 9B is filled from the supply hopper 1 through the valve 15B. If it is determined that the second vessel 9B is full in volume, weight and/or time, the pressure in the second vessel 9B is adjusted to equalize the pressure in the vessel 9A and/or the pipeline 11 . The pressure in 9B is increased using the valve 17 or a plurality of valves 17 . When the container 9B is full and the pressure is equalized, the material is transported from the second container 9B to the pipeline 11 via the feeding device 10B, as described above. At the same time the material is stopped from being transported from the first vessel 9A to the pipeline 11 via the feeding device 10A.

The pressurization valve 17 or arrangement of the plurality of pressurization valves 17 can be configured according to the method required to satisfactorily pressurize and evacuate the vessel. These methods often depend on the nature of the material being conveyed.

If material from either vessel 9A or vessel 9B ceases to be drained thereby temporarily overloading the vessel, then vessel 9A or 9B that has overflowed uses an appropriate vent port 18A or 18B. Thus, the pressure is released so that the pressure in the vessel 9A or 9B equalizes the pressure in the supply hopper 1, whereby the vessel 9A or 9B receives the material from the supply hopper.

In the process section shown in Fig. 2, the transfer of material between the supply hopper 1 and the receiving vessel 4 is continued while the vessels 9A, 9B and the feeding devices 10A, 10B are alternately operated, e.g. For example, until a predetermined level/weight is reached at which discharging from vessel 9A ends and discharge from vessel 9B begins, vessel 9A flows through pipeline 11 via feeding device 10A. ), while the container 9B receives the material from the feed hopper 1 via a valve 15B. A continuous supply of material to the pipeline is thus ensured by the system controller 19 .

The control system operates in a manner similar to the method described in FIG. 1 .

3 shows a pneumatic conveying system 102 illustrating an alternative method of conveying material from the feed hopper 1 to the receiving vessel 4 .

In the example shown in FIG. 3 , an unpressurized container 20 is included. In the process section which transports material from the supply hopper 1 to the receiving vessel 4 , the bulk material is transferred from the supply hopper 1 through a valve 15 to an unpressurized vessel 20 , and then to a feeding device ( 21 ) into a pneumatic conveying pipeline 11 , the feeding device being operable to control, restrict and/or regulate the flow of material from the unpressurized vessel 20 into the pipeline 11 . . The supply device 21 can also form a suitable pressure barrier between the vessel 20 and the transport pipeline 11 .

The transport of the material via the pipeline 11 to the receiving vessel 4 and beyond it to the final processing section 2 is common to each of the examples shown in FIGS. 1 , 2 and 3 .

1 and 2 , system 102 operates continuously while filling unpressurized container 20 according to signals based on weight, level and time, for example, container 20 ) reaches a low level or weight, the container can be refilled with material discharged from the feed hopper 1 via a valve or feed device 15 .

In the example shown in FIGS. 1 , 2 and 3 , the receiving vessel 4 is equipped with a feeding device 6 which allows the material to be discharged from the receiving vessel into an adjacent process section.

The feeding device 6 is configured to operate in such a way that it is possible to increase or decrease the feeding speed from a minimum speed to a maximum speed or from a maximum speed to a minimum speed very quickly, usually in the range of 3 to 30 seconds. Because of the time it takes for the material to travel through the conveying pipeline 11 and also in the system affected by the supply capacity of the compression device 8 and the associated available motor power, for example containers 9; 9A , 9B) because of the time taken to change the pressure in it, it is understood that the possibly increasing or decreasing from the feeding device 6 is much faster than the possibly increasing or decreasing from the pneumatic conveying system 3 . .

It is understood that the feeding device 6 can respond to increasing or decreasing the feeding rate faster than the pneumatic conveying system 3 can respond. Thus, the system 100 , 101 , 102 using the control device 19 adjusts the weight and/or level of the receiving vessel and/or the rate of change of this weight or level, so as to adjust the weight and/or level of the receiving vessel 4 . A level may be made to represent a predetermined steady state position. Thus, the control system 19 controls the feed rates of the pneumatic system 3 and the feeding devices 10 , 10A, 10B, 21 to ensure that the weight/level of the material in the receiving vessel 4 is restored or maintained at a target level. operable to adjust system conditions such as

The control system 19 is configured to monitor, adjust or control the relationships between the components of the overall system 100 , 101 , 102 , for example devices 6 , 7 , 10 , 10A, 10B, The feed rate of 21) is controlled so that continuous feeding of the material is ensured and the material discharged from the receiving vessel 4 to the process section 2 is optimized to the conveying conditions and the process section conditions.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described above, it is to be understood that departures from the described embodiments may still fall within the scope of the invention.

Claims (22)

A pneumatic transport device operable to transport material from a source to a processing unit, comprising:
a compression device operable to supply and transport a pneumatic medium through the at least one conduit;
a source operable to discharge material into the pneumatic conveying system;
at least one vessel arranged to receive material from the source and discharge material into the at least one conduit;
A filter receiver configured to receive a material and a pneumatic medium from at least one conduit, the filter receiver configured to separate the material and the pneumatic medium to store a predefined small volume or weight of material and transfer a large capacity from the filter receiver to an adjacent the filter receiver configured to be operably discharged to a process part, wherein a process part connection formed where the apparatus is connected to the process part is within a horizontal or vertical range of 1 m to 15 m;
meeting process requirements using a control system coupled to the filter receiver and operable to control the rate of discharge of material such that the material is transported substantially continuously and in a manner greater than the rate of increase possible with the pneumatic transport system alone; a discharging device operable to increase the feed rate from a minimum feed rate to a maximum feed rate over a time frame of 3 to 30 seconds for discharge to the processing section; and
a control system capable of measuring and subsequently maintaining or recovering a fixed weight or volume, i.e. the amount of material stored in the filter receiver, by varying the feed rate to the pneumatic conveying pipeline according to a closed loop control method;
the storage capacity of the filter receiver ranges from 1 minute to 2 minutes transfer capacity at full speed, the volume of the filter receiver ranges from 1/2 to 1/8 the volume of the container receiving material from the source;
The control system is also operable to maintain a weight or level of material in the filter receiver between a predetermined upper limit and a lower limit, such that the discharge device conveying the material to the processing section maintains predictable operating characteristics, and thus the process A pneumatic conveying device, wherein the method of separating the material and conveying medium cannot be compromised without experiencing a shortage of additional material. The pneumatic conveying pipeline of claim 1 , wherein the control system comprises logic control comprising alone or in combination of process side control techniques such as closed-loop control features and proportional-integral-differential methods; operable to control the weight or level of material stored in the filter receptacle, or rate of change of the weight or level of the material, thereby controlling the rate of discharge of material into the filter receptacle. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control system comprises a plurality of mechanical feeding devices operated by motorized rotational or pneumatic rotational or position sensors, optionally including one or more mechanical feeding devices between the supply source and the at least one vessel. , pneumatic conveying device. 4. The process unit according to claim 3, comprising one or more mechanical feeding devices on the outlet from the at least one vessel, and optionally comprising one or more feeding devices on the outlet of the filter receptacle, wherein the feeding devices are connected to the processing section. operable to provide the feed rate and the rate of change of the feed rate required by 5. The pneumatic conveying apparatus of claim 4, wherein the feeding device is operable to increase, decrease or maintain a feed rate of material from 0 to 30 seconds. The pneumatic conveying apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the filter receiver comprises at least one of filtration means and cyclone or centrifugal separation means or duct piping, optionally at least one vessel comprises a pressurized vessel or a pressurized conveying pipeline. The pneumatic conveying device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one vessel comprises an unpressurized vessel. The pneumatic transfer of claim 1 , wherein at least one container and the filter receiver include weight or level sensing, the container operable to receive or discharge material at a predetermined weight or level of material contained in the container. Device. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of containers arranged in series with the source container, wherein the material is dispensable from the source container and is receivable by a first container, and wherein the material is removed from the first container. can be discharged sequentially into two vessels, wherein when the material reaches a predetermined weight or level, the second vessel is operable to discharge material into the pipeline to be transported through the pipeline by the pneumatic medium; , optionally wherein both the first vessel and the second vessel are arranged to simultaneously receive material from the source vessel and discharge the material from the first vessel and the second vessel to the pipeline separately and alternately. Device. The method of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of containers arranged in parallel, wherein the first container and the second container are each in communication with the source container, the first container receiving the material discharged from the source container and holding the material. arranged to discharge into the pipeline, wherein the second vessel is arranged to receive material discharged from the source vessel and to discharge material into the pipeline, wherein the first vessel and the second vessel alternately receive material and discharge, wherein when the first vessel is receiving material from the source vessel, the second vessel discharges material into the pipeline, and when the second vessel is receiving material from the source vessel. A first vessel discharges material into the pipeline. The method of claim 1, further comprising at least one exhaust port and each exhaust port is controlled by the control system, when the exhaust port is opened may be the pressure flowing out of the at least a portion of the device, is closed at least one said exhaust port The pressure can be increased or maintained in at least a portion of the device when being acted upon, and selectively controlling a valve to transport material or pressurize a gas is a microprocessor-based logic control to satisfactorily pressurize and move or transport the material. or operated according to equivalent logic (eg pneumatic logic). 12. A method of increasing or decreasing the feed rate from a pneumatic conveying device using a pneumatic conveying device according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising:
transporting material from a source to a processing unit and using the pneumatic conveying device;
The step of using the pneumatic conveying device,
compressing the pneumatic medium and feeding the pneumatic medium into the at least one conduit;
discharging the material from a source to a pneumatic conveying system;
receiving material from the source and discharging the material into the at least one conduit;
conveying the pneumatic medium through the at least one conduit;
discharging the material and the pneumatic medium from the at least one conduit;
receiving the material and the pneumatic medium in a filter receiver;
separating the material and the pneumatic medium such that the material can be discharged from the filter receiver to an adjacent process section without the need to store a transfer capacity in excess of one to two minutes at a maximum transfer rate;
discharging material from the filter receiver to the processing section; and
A method of increasing or decreasing a feed rate from a pneumatic conveying device comprising the step of substantially continuously conveying material along said conduit to said filter receiver by controlling the discharge rate of material and pneumatic medium. 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: controlling the feed rate of material transported to and thereafter to the filter receiver to achieve a feed rate or rate of change of feed rate required by the processing unit. The steps include increasing, decreasing, or maintaining the feed rate in a predetermined range, and achieving a rate of change of feed that far exceeds that possible with the pneumatic conveying system alone. or how to reduce it. delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete

Images